Independence Day

Let’s Celebrate Our Freedom Today

“Peace and war begin at home. If we truly want peace in the world, let us begin by loving one another in our own families. If we want to spread joy, we need for every family to have joy.” (Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

Mother Teresa wrote this long before September 11, 2001. Today, peace and war are in our thoughts much more. Yet, even when we follow the events in Afghanistan and the Iraq, the war can still seem remote from our everyday busy lives.

Independence Day is a day to rejoice that we live in a free country. We are free not to live in any way we please, but free as Christians to live the Gospel we profess. This Gospel has as one of its golden rules exactly what Mother Teresa speaks about—to love others as we would want to be loved (Matthew 19:19). This love begins with God’s love for us. From there, God’s love in us flows outward to the members of our families, to our friends, and to the whole world.